Sources of Capital - Lands' End - Paper covers sources of capital for the company Lands' End. 582 words also includes brief history of the company and link to the annual report.

Essay by terri1975smithUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, December 2003

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Sources of Capital Paper - Lands' End

Brief History

Lands' End, Inc. is a retail "catalog" store specializing in traditional, casual apparel for men, women, and children. It also sells accessories, home goods, luggage, and corporate gifts to its primarily middle-aged customers. In 1963, Gary Comer introduced Lands' End, a Chicago-based mail-order supplier of sailboat hardware and equipment. Early in the company's existence, only one catalog was generated annually. As a result of positive responses and inquiries from their customers, duffel bags, luggage, clothing for boating, and finally, general clothing lines were added and more catalogs were produced.

Comer began to focus primarily on clothing and soft luggage in 1976, and removed sailboat hardware from the catalogs entirely by the following year. By 1979, the company relocated its warehouse and operations to Dodgeville, Wisconsin where it still resides today. (Hoover's Online, 2003)

Sources of Capital

Since the company's sales peak during seasonal times of the year, they need to meet their inventory requirements to obtain much of their working capital.

Working capital for Lands' End is generated from company operations as well as short-term bank loans. They are then able to upgrade their assets and purchase treasury stock. During fiscal year 2001, $28 million was spent on treasury stock. To compare, $4.5 million was used to purchase treasury stock in fiscal year 2000. Additionally, common stock is purchased from the company's board of directors. Since fiscal year 1990, over 14.7 million shares of common stock have been purchased. In fiscal year 2001, approximately 12.7 million shares were bought and about 2 million shares were authorized for purchase by the company. (Lands' End, 2001)

Common stock for their shareholders is another key capital source. During fiscal year 2001, "The company authorized the issuance of 160 million shares of $0.01...